Introduction As songwriters, we’ve all been there – humming a catchy melody that seems perfect but struggling to find the right words to bring it to life. You might wonder if you’re doing things backward, starting with the music instead of the lyrics. Don’t worry! Many successful songwriters work this way, and there are practical […]
Perfect Songs Don’t Exist Basically, there are no perfect songs. Perfection is impossible. It doesn’t happen in nature, and it’s certainly not reality in songwriting. Imagine the perfect song like a featureless box that’s all one colour – grey – with nothing standing out. No texture, colour, imperfections, or details. Who wants to look at […]
What is a Song Map? A song map is a simple and effective diagrammatic tool to help songwriters structure the story of their song. It breaks the song into three distinct sections—beginning, middle, and end—each represented by a box. Here’s how it works: How a Song Map Works 1. Three Boxes Represent the Song’s Story […]
Ever Had a Tune Pop into Your Head Out of Nowhere? Did you ever have a great tune rolling round in your head that came from nowhere? What happened to that idea? If it ended up as a finished song, well done! But if it got forgotten and lost in the void, then that’s a […]
Have you ever told yourself, after writing something – a poem, a song lyric, or any kind of creative art – that what you’ve created is rubbish? Did you ever beat yourself up for not being good enough? If the answer is yes, then you’re in the right place, right here, right now. If the […]
Do You Believe in Magic? Magic might sound a bit “woo” to some, but I’m a firm believer. Surprising things happen all the time—your intuition whispers something, and it turns out to be gold dust. Your gut tells you something’s off, and there it is, unfolding before your eyes. Magic isn’t just about fairy tales; […]
Being a multidisciplinary artist can be overwhelming when you have several creative projects on the go at the same time. With multiple projects, how do you make progress? The thing is you can only work on one at a time in the moment, being only one person. If you have a team then you’ll be […]
The Vanishing Act of Brilliant Ideas Have you ever had an amazing idea that you thought was fantastic, only to have it vanish like a dream later? You were sure you’d remember it, but when you finally had time to explore it, poof! Gone without a trace. Life’s like that, isn’t it? We’ve all been […]
Last time we talked about inspiration and getting down to practice consistently. Inspiration will best find you already working on your craft. But how do we make it easier for inspiration to come to us when songwriting? One answer to that is to just start writing by doing some freewriting to get us into the […]
Inspiration can be found all around us. Nature and environment, books, movies, songs, art, and all manner of experiences can be sources of creative spark. But here’s a crucial insight: true creativity isn’t about waiting for inspiration—it’s about creating consistently. The Inspiration Myth Inspiration can strike anytime, anywhere. But should we create our art or […]